Did Disney steal ‘Let It Go’ song from 2008 Spanish version? Lawsuit!

Four years after the fact, Jaime Ciero of Los Angeles County is suing the Walt Disney Co. and others (including Demi Lovato), saying they ripped off his song “Volar” and remade it as “Let It Go.”

Jaime Ciero suit against the Walt Disney Co. over “Let It Go.” (PDF)

The federal suit, first reported by TMZ, says “Volar” was released in 2008 — five years before the song from “Frozen” made the melody a hit (with lyrics like “I’m never going back, the past is in the past.”)

“The Infringing Song is extrinsically and intrinsically similar to the Subject Song,” says the 14-page suit filed Thursday in Los Angeles.

Signed by Scott Alan Burroughs, the lawyer for Ciero, the suit says: “‘Volar’ and ‘Let it Go’ bear similarities so striking as to preclude the possibility that the latter song was independently created. Before exploiting his work, Defendants at no time contacted Ciero to obtain his consent in regard to their use of his original material.”

Ciero’s lawyers demand a jury trial, where they hope to win a variety of penalties, including “enhanced damages” up to $150,000.”

“He’s suing Disney, Idina Menzel who recorded it for the movie, Demi Lovato who recorded the single and others. If Ciero wins, the judgment could be humongous. He wants profits from the movie, the music, the marketing … you name it.”

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Here’s the Ciero version:

Did Disney steal ‘Let It Go’ song from 2008 Spanish version? Lawsuit! was last modified: November 24th, 2017 by Ken Stone